Water - Proof is in the Puddles!

We are so fortunate here, that not only do we have a large garden to run around in, we also have a natural woodland space, vegetable patches, a greenhouse, gardening resources, wild flower garden, herb area and a quiet area called ‘Ladybird Lane’.  Our garden has many toys and a vast amount of large loose parts such as tyres, guttering, drain pipes and cable drums.

Come rain or shine, we try to get outside as much as possible throughout the day.  Studies have shown that being outside actually changes the chemicals in your brain and promotes a sense of well-being.

We love digging in the mud, finding worms, rolling around in leaves and jumping in puddles.  A healthy dose of Vitamin N = NATURE!

However to do this, we need to ensure that children are appropriately dressed to keep them warm and dry.

Here at St. Michael’s are aiming to take the pressure off parents and carers to provide warm waterproofs and also to reduce the amount of laundry we are sending home from fun in the wonderful outdoors!

We respect that children’s clothing costs and so does the high volume of laundry.  We are taking extra steps to protect your child’s clothing .

Of course, we remind you to not send children in their best/precious clothes as we still want them to have fun and not worry about staying clean.  And a reminder to please ensure every item of clothing is NAMED (even your child’s initials written on the wash label really helps us), with over 100 children in our care clothing can become muddled easily!

This term we have invested in a high quality, fleece lined waterproofs across the age-groups 1-4 years, which not only keep the children that extra bit drier, but also warmer so that they are able to enjoy staying out for longer periods of time!

We are also providing our own nursery coats for muddy/painting outdoor play to protect children’s own coats from home and we have many pairs of nursery wellington boots which can be dried out after enthusiastic puddle jumping!

We ask that parents and carers continue to provide a bag of spare clothes, a reusable wet bag for sending home clothing and in colder months, named hats and gloves. (Please be mindful that gloves have the same habit as socks of getting lost, so budget gloves are the best thing for nursery!)

We love being outside all year round and look forward to a winter of mud, rain, sun and maybe snow!

  After all, Alfred Wainwright had a point when he said “there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing!”